Trinity ATCL DIPLOMA

[kiikan]

Hi,

I’m planning to take the Trinity ATCL exam in a few months.
My background: I started playing piano at the age of 5. I was planning to attend the Conservatorium in the Netherlands but didn’t in the end. After many years of pause, I started playing again during the lockdown.
Here are the pieces I’m planning to play. I still need to finish practicing pieces 1 and 2.
Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

My impression is that it’s better to take the exam onsite and play in person since the results are instant, but I’d appreciate any tips you might have.
   1.   Ludwig van Beethoven – Sonata No. 14 in C♯ minor, Op. 27 No. 2 “Moonlight” (complete) (~14–15 min)
   2.   Ludwig van Beethoven – Sonata No. 8 in C minor, Op. 13 “Pathétique” – I. Grave – Allegro di molto e con brio, II. Adagio cantabile (~12–13 min)
   3.   Frédéric Chopin – Fantaisie-Impromptu in C♯ minor, Op. 66 (~5–6 min)
   4.   Frédéric Chopin – Nocturne in E♭ major, Op. 9 No. 2 (~4–5 min)

[thorn]

The programme is not balanced, but it seems they changed the mark scheme so that balance is only 2 out of 100 marks (page 20 of the syllabus) so perhaps that's not a problem.

What is definitely a problem is that you have to play sonatas in full, so you can't skip the last movement of Pathetique (page 12 of the syllabus).

Finally, the Chopin Nocturne op.9/2 is not on the ATCL syllabus, so have you gotten written approval from Trinity to play it in the exam?

[brogers70]

Of course it's too late to change now, but you are playing two of Beethoven's most often performed sonatas and two of Chopin's most often played short pieces. Maybe next time you plan a program, either go for somewhat lesser known works by well known composers or works by lesser known composers, so maybe a Handel keyboard suite containing a fugue (like the e minor one), a Mozart sonata (other then the a minor or the cliche C major one), some late Brahms (other than Opus 118 #2), and some Albeniz or Granados or Janacek. If there's nothing apart from the very well known pieces that grab your attention, then spend a lot of time listening to a lot of music from lots of periods and lots of different composers. There is so much great music out there to play.

[liszt-and-the-galops]

Of course it's too late to change now, but you are playing two of Beethoven's most often performed sonatas and two of Chopin's most often played short pieces.

Was going to point this out as well.

Maybe next time you plan a program, either go for somewhat lesser known works by well known composers or works by lesser known composers, so maybe a Handel keyboard suite containing a fugue (like the e minor one), a Mozart sonata (other then the a minor or the cliche C major one), some late Brahms (other than Opus 118 #2), and some Albeniz or Granados or Janacek. If there's nothing apart from the very well known pieces that grab your attention, then spend a lot of time listening to a lot of music from lots of periods and lots of different composers. There is so much great music out there to play.

A few other ideas, in no particular order:

• a Hummel Sonata
• a Czerny Sonata (not Op. 268)
• a Liszt Fantasie (not La Clochette, S. 253, or Reminiscences de Lucrezia Borgia), lesser-known Etude (S. 138, S. 142/143), or any of his hundreds of pieces other than La Campanella/HR 6/HR 2/S. 139
• an Alkan March, Prelude, Nocturne, or one of his easier Etudes (Op. 39 no. 2 for example)
• a Chaminade Etude (Op. 35) or her Sonata (Op. 21)
• a Debussy Prelude or Etude
• something from Ravel's Miroirs